The spider in the shadows
by darkoraclegirl
Summary: People believe what easiest for them. So when they see someone that is a suit that doesn't fit the role of hero the believe them the villain. So she sticks to the shadows until she can bright to light the truth. However light shines on more then just the truth. Please read the note at the top of story.
1. Chapter 1

**Quick note before the story. This is a test of a character I have been thinking about for a while now and was told by Legolas. that I should write it. I have posted this story on a forum some where so those of you that have seen it might know a little about the character. Please let me know your thoughts on this story either by reviewing or PMing me with the details.**

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Locked away in a small room on the top floor of an apartment in New York a young woman was slouched over in her chair, arms and head resting on the desk before her seemingly asleep. Her raven shoulder length curls hiding her face. The desk lamp next to her switched on, the timer triggering it as it was set up to do. Light filled the small space as best as it could. The woman stirred at the sudden light. Sitting up slightly just to slump back in the chair with her arms hanging by her sides. Her jade green eyes opened yet didn't seem to focus as she stared lifelessly at the wall the desk was pushed up against. Newspaper clippings were pinned to the wall. Each had the same thing with little true differences between them. A photo of a woman in a silver and black skin tight one piece with a white spider just about her breasts. Over her face was a mask. Only her mouth and curly black hair were visible. The headlines all reading more or less the same thing. "Shadowspider strikes again." Each clipping had pen or marker scribbling on them. Things like "not true", "lies", and "innocent" had been written over most of them and the ones that hadn't been written on were scribbled out. A silent tear ran down her check before she brushed it away and stood. "I need a drink." The woman sighed before turning and leaving the room.

The woman, Lee Almar walked the dark streets of the city. Her jacket, a worn men's black leather one protected her from the harsh wind that was blowing through the street. _Fitting._ She thought bitterly as she turned and entered a bar just one block from her apartment. The place was almost empty, as it always seemed to be. Which was why Lee liked it so much. Almost empty meant she didn't have to push away drunks looking for a date, people looking for one nighters, or people talking about the latest news on Shadowspider. Sitting at the bar the bartender set her usual before her. "Been a while." He greeted her. "Hit a low tonight." Was all she said before taking a slow sip. He nodded and went to the other end of the bar; know she wasn't in the mood to talk. Setting her drink down Lee put her head in her hands. The nightmare of Shadowspider's bad press haunting her even there. She felt her fangs trying to appear and pushed them away before picking her drink up again. The door to the bar opened and closed, informing her that someone had entered. She paid no mind until a man sat down two stools from her on her right. Looking at him from the corner of her eyes she noticed he was well built, blue eyed, and had neatly combed short blond hair. She guessed by the way he held himself that he was a solider. She stopped looking at him and returned to her drink, barely noticing as he ordered a beer.

Lee had only started on her second drink when her thoughts were cut into by a voice. "Are you alright Ms?" Turning her head she found the blond man looking at her with a look of concern. _A good guy? Not many like him these days._ She thought before answering. "Got a lot on my mind." She figured that short answer would be enough for him as well as let him know she wasn't interested in talking to him. "Maybe I could help?" He didn't take the hint. Lee let out a sigh and put her drink down. "I'm not looking for help. Nor do I want to talk about it." Lee thought about just leaving for a moment before shrugging off the thought. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to butt into your business Ms." He turned back to his beer looking sad and defeated, like a kicked puppy. "Lee." The blond turned a confused look to her. "What?" He asked. "My name is Lee. Lee Almar." The smile that spread on his face was almost contagious. He quickly held his hand out to her. "Steve Rogers." Lee nearly fell off her stool at that. Pulling herself together she shook his hand. "Aren't you Captain America?" She feared the answer but had to be sure. He smiled shyly and blushed. "Yes ma'am." _An Avenger here? They can't know who I am yet! No, clam down. There's no way they could know._ "Strange place for an Avenger to be. Doesn't Tony Stark have a full bar in that tower you all live in?" The blond, Steve nodded. "Yes he does. But I don't like drinking with Tony often. He seems to have made it his life goal to try to get me drunk. I fear what his liver must look like." Lee nodded. She had heard of Tony Stark's drinking habit and had little doubt that he would often get drag others into drinking with him. "This is one of the few bars Tony doesn't know about. So I come here to get away for a little while." He finished. "I take it you don't like your team-mates?" _If he doesn't then maybe I could use this._ Steve shrugged. "It's not that I don't like them. They are a good bunch and I am happy to fight beside them all. But like any team there are things that we disagree and fight on." That was not what Lee had been hoping for. So she sighed and took a drink. "And with this business of Shadowspider we tend to fight a lot." It took everything for Lee not to choke at that. "What business of Shadowspider?" Steve sighed and took a drink. "We've been assigned to capture her. She's a threat that everyone wants off the streets. Problem is no one's been able to hold her long enough to even cuff her." He explained. "And what have you been fighting on?" He shook his head. "I shouldn't be telling you this." He sighed. "I'm just one person and no one is listening in. It will stay between us." Steve studied Lee's jade eyes before sighing again. "Alright. We're arguing over how to go about catching her. So far traps don't work and we have no idea what she is after. Her invisibility makes her hard to track. Clint thinks the best way to catch her is to put an arrow through her. Not to kill her but to force her to drop to the ground in pain and prevent her from getting up and running any time soon." _Don't let Hawkeye get me in his sites._ "Natasha thinks the same but with a bullet." _Or Black Widow._ "Tony thinks he can disable her invisibility but so far all attempts let to the device creating the invisibility to explode." _How many of them want to hurt me?_ "Thor thinks we should just charge her all at once and knock her out." _At last! One where I don't end up dead or badly wounded. Though with the way he hits things I still might be hurt or killed._ "Bruce, well he doesn't want to partake in the capture. He's sure the other guy would kill her." _I am starting to hate these guys._ Steve took a long drink of his beer, draining it and ordering another. "What about you? What do you think your team should do?" Steve stared at her for several long minutes, making Lee fear she had said something to tip him off that she was pumping him for information. "I think we need to take a closer look at her. What she's doing. What she might be after. So far nothing points to what Shadowspider is looking for. She never steals anything. Only ever destroys the odd building and kill a few people here and there. The rest of the time she leave people alive but unconscious with two puncture wounds were the shoulder meets the neck. And the ones she leaves alive don't seem to know anything that can help us. She must be after something." Lee leaned back, somewhat relieved to know that at least one Avenger didn't want her hurt or dead. "Well good luck with Shadowspider." Lee took out her wallet and paid for her drinks. "Wait I'll walk you home." Steve offered. "I don't live far and I have pepper spray. Nice meeting you Captain." She brushed off before quickly leaving. She didn't need an Avenger following her home.

Hanging from a web attached to a crane Lee sighed heavily. She had thought she'd tracked down one of the crime bosses she believed was connected to the people that were allegedly after her. But after five hours she was ready to give up. "Waste of time." She sighed before free falling a few feet. Twisting her body she fired off a strand of webbing at the corner of a near by building and swung off down the street. _I need to get better sources of information. That's the fourth time I've been wrong this month. And it's only the second week of the month! I better Spiderman doesn't have this problem._ "Huh?" Lee had enough time to turn in mid air before something collided with her and sent her crashing onto a rooftop. Pushing herself up Lee backed away slightly at the sight of Ironman pointing his weapons at her. "I wouldn't do that." He warned. Lee barely had time to wonder what he meant before her body just managed to dodge the arrow that had been aimed at her. _Not good!_ She could see Hawkeye on the roof across from the one she and Ironman were on, another arrow at the ready. "Now would be a good time to rethink your life." Lee sent a glare to Ironman before realizing all he could see of it was her frown. So she let her fangs grow and hissed at him. "Bad kitty." He joked before firing at her.

Lee slide down her shower wall as the warm water filled the air with steam and washed the blood and dirt off her. She had just managed to get away from the two Avengers, but not with out taking heavy damage. Her left shoulder was burnt, she had several cuts were arrows nearly dug in, multiple bruises dotted her torso, and she was sure she had at least two cracked ribs. Had she not remembered her invisibility at the last moment she knew she would've been beaten and captured. "Idiots the lot of them." Lee was beginning to believe that whoever was after her was convincing the heroes to go after her too. Shaking her head Lee forced herself to her feet, wincing at the pain before grabbing her soap.

Once showered she stumbled naked to bed and flopped onto her stomach. The moonlight from her window lit up her naked back, highlight the large scar that ran from the back of her right hip to the back of her left shoulder. Smaller scars dotted her back and most of her legs. She knew the small ones came from the crash that took her family from her as a child. But the large one was a mystery to her. The doctors claimed it was years old but found no reason it should've been there. Shutting her eyes from the moonlight Lee let herself drift away from the world into what past for a dream in her mind.

A blur of colours and shapes dancing through her mind. Sounds jumbled together for most of it. But as always one part of her dream always had clear sound. "Lee? Lee where are you? Come on Lee we don't have time for this!" The voice seemed to belong to a woman and held both worry and annoyance. Each time she heard it a name would dance on the tip of Lee's tongue as if taunting her before disappearing as the sun forced her awake. It was torture for her, having to go through this every night. But she knew she couldn't avoid it. She needed to be rested for her search for answers. So each night she let the dream taunt her. Let it slowly drive her into madness. For that name couldn't dance forever. One day it would be her's. The blur of colours and shapes would give way to memories and she would have answers. But until then she would allow them the pleasure of their dance while she searched the waking world for clues and answers. For someone had to hold them, one way or another.


	2. Chapter 2

Lee gave herself a week to recover from her last dance with the heroes before stepping outside her apartment. This was mostly due to her find herself with next to no food. So after spending 20 minutes writing up her list she grabbed her jacket and left.

The last thing she had expected while shopping was to bump into Captain America while looking at apples. "Hello Ms. Almar." He greeted her. Lee did her best not to tense under his gaze. "Captain." She greeted back. "I didn't think I would be seeing you again." She heard him chuckle a little. "Same here. Though it is nice to bump into you." The fact that he hadn't lost the friendly tone he'd had at the bar told Lee she could relax around him. "Like wise. Unlike most men you are nice to be around. I take it you've been well?" At the bar she could get away with not talking much to him because it gave the impression she'd had a bad day. But here she had to talk. "Yes, thank you for asking. How about you?" _Other then the damage your teammates did to me?_ "I've been fine." She answered as she moved away from the fruit and headed for the bread. "Picking up some personal items?" Lee asked him after noticing he was following her. "Yeah. The others are alright with ordering things on line but I prefer doing my own shopping." Lee grabbed a couple loafs before moving on. "How's the spider problem?" For a moment she thought he stumbled but when she looked he was just looking off to the side with a blush dusting his cheeks. "Not as good as we would like it to be." He finally answered. "Oh?" Lee made herself look busy comparing soap but made sure to give him her full attention. "Last night Tony and Clint caught site of her and took it upon themselves to try to catch her. She slipped away after sustaining multiple wounds." Nodding like someone who wasn't paying attention Lee placed the soap she both liked and could afford into her basket. "Did they really think that if the whole team couldn't catch her the two of them could?" She asked as she eyed the hair dye. "I'm not sure. But Tony seems to think he might be able to bring her down next time. At least that's what he hinted at before disappearing into his lab." Steve shrugged as he grabbed some soap for himself. Lee was thankful that she had stopped dead in front of the brushes. "So Ironman believes he's come up with a way to stop Shadowspider from getting away?" She looked over at him while shuffling a few brushes only to see him shrug. "He once thought he built a way for us to visit Thor in Asgard. He is still paying for the damage done to city. I expecting we're going to have to abandon Shadowspider to take him to the hospital." Lee chuckled. _Sounds like I might not have much to worry about. But, they have been known to surprise people._ Looking at her basket Lee let out a small sigh. "Well I have everything." She turned to him. "It was nice running into you Captain." She went to pass him but he stop her. "Please, call me Steve." She gave him a small smile. "Very well Steve. Have a nice day." She then continued on her way to the check out.

The swing through the city while invisible had been meant to clear her head. It had not been meant as a means to track and follow Captain America. Yet Lee found herself following him after spotting him leaving Stark tower on his bike. _I must be out of my skull. Following an Avenger? What's next? Asking for interrogation tips from Black Widow?_ Stopping on the side of a building Lee watched as Captain parked his bike and slipped into a building. _What the? Why's he going to a hospital? Is he looking for any one who came in with my injuries?_ Lee lunched herself from the wall she was on and swung over to the hospital. She knew it was a long shot but she had to see what he was doing there. So she began checking the windows for signs of him.

Lee had given up. Whatever room he had gone into she couldn't find it. She knew he was still there as she could still see his bike parked each time she checked. Lee had just lined up a shot at the closet building to head home when a laugh made her pause. Crawling over to a window on her right Lee was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. There was Captain America reading to a little boy. The boy's arms were in casts and Lee could see a wheelchair in the corner of the room. The boy was smiling and laughing as Captain read to him, clearly finding the story funny. It was a nice site that warmed Lee's heart a little. _Just like what dad did for us when we were sick._ Lee suddenly shook her head. _We? There was a we? No one said anything about me having siblings._ A harsh cough was what drew Lee back to the little boy. Captain was on his feet rubbing the boy's back and holding a cup of water as the boy kept coughing, his face turning redder by the minute. Captain looked helpless as he watched the boy slowly stop coughing and took the water from him. The pain in his eyes at not being able to help made Lee sigh. _Here he is making that boy feel special and yet he feels it's not enough. I don't think anyone can do more for that boy._ Lee took one final look at the scene before her then took off down the street.

Checking the locks and alarm for the fifth time Lee cast her eyes to the file on her desk. She hadn't left that there nor did anyone have the key or code to her apartment. Yet there it was. A file sat dead centre on her desk. She crossed the room slowly looking for any signs of someone still being there before opening the file. "What?" The first page that greeted her contained details of a drug/human trafficker named Archon Bennett. Looking over the information reviled to her that it wasn't human trafficking he dealt in. It was mutant trafficking. "A girl with my skill set would sell pretty high." Lee realized. She had recalled the name Bennett being mentioned by the man she had questioned in the past. _This could be a break. Or a trap._ Turning to the next page Lee noticed it was Archon's schedule. The next few pages were pictures of people that worked for Archon as well as some details on them. However the last page caught her attention the most. It was a plain sheet of white paper with a single sentence. "I will collect one day." It was written in black ink. The writing didn't strike her as familiar but she knew if this person could break into her home and leave with out leaving a trace of themselves behind they had to be good. Looking over the schedule Lee circled 10:30 pm two weeks from that day. Archon it seems was getting a new supply of drugs and Lee was going to make sure he and his friends were tied up that night with Archon singing like a bird to Lee.

Panting hard Lee strained her ears for any trace of her pursuer. She hadn't meant to catch the eye of the Hulk but when she spotted him about to pummel some gang wannabes she had acted without thought and threw a trashcan at his head. _Just you wait Lee. When this story airs it's going to be Hulk chases villain spider after SHE attacked innocent teens. Stupid kids! You would think they would know better!_ The wall next to her exploding startled her out of her thoughts but before she could run or even dodge a large green hand wrapped around her and she was pulled out. She struggled against the Hulk but it was in vain. Even with her strength she couldn't hope to compare to the Hulk's. He brought her to his face and growled at her. _Ok Lee think! His skin's too thick for my fangs to pierce him. He's not as dumb as the world paints him to be but he doesn't use his head a lot._ Hulk tightening his grip on her was enough to force her out of her thoughts. "Easy there big guy!" She snapped before pulling herself together. "Your friends want me alive after all." She finished as he stared at her. That was went it hit her. "Guess this means we're going to the tower then. After all your friends have been trying to catch me for a while now. And here you are, holding me in your hand and I can't get free. You win. Better take me to the tower so I can confess to everything and explain myself." Lee sighed. _Please let this work!_ "No." Her blood ran cold at that. "What? You don't want to show the others how much better you are then them? Stark thinks he's so great in that tin suit of his. And Thor thinks he's amazing because he's a god. But you? They know you're strong but they don't think you're any good on your own. If you take me to them they will have to admit that you're the best." Lee could see him considering this and almost smiled as he jumped in the direction of the tower.

Crashing through the large windows near the top of the tower had not been a part of Lee's plan. But she was willing to take what she could get. Shaking her head to clear it she looked around the room and found the Avengers all there along with a woman she knew to be Stark CEO. Hulk thrusted out his fist with Lee in it, showing them he had her. "Well I'll be damned. He caught her." Stark laughed. "Good job Hulk. Now set her down so we can make sure she can't get away." Hulk eyed the archer before placing Lee on her feet. Black Widow had both her guns locked onto her. "Don't do anything stupid." The archer warned as he grabbed a set of heavy-duty cuffs from Stark. Lee let him walk around her and take hold of her wrist before doing a flip over him and pulled him flush against her, hissing at the other Avengers with her fangs in full view. Moving fast she fastened the cuff over his wrist and placed a hand around his neck, keeping his head in the way of her's. "How far do you really think you'll get Shadowspider?" Captain asked her as he moved carefully to get a better look at her. "Doesn't matter what I think. All that matters is what happens. Don't try it Barton! Wouldn't take much to knock you out and then throw you out the hole the Hulk was nice enough to make for me before I take off. And we both know they will be more inclined to save you before coming after me." She growled as she tightened her hold on him as a warning after noticing him reaching for a small gun on his thigh. "What do you want Shadowspider? What are you after?" Lee turned her head towards Captain, wondering if telling him would really make any difference for her. "What I want? What does it matter to you what I want? None of you would let me have it. None of you truly even care what I want." She was slowly edging towards the hole, keeping out of reach of the Hulk who was giving her the death glare. "I do! Tell me and I'll see about helping you." _Offering your enemy help Captain? Hard to know if this is a distraction or if he truly means it. Does not matter. It will all end the same._ "No." She then threw Clint at Black Widow before diving out the window, activating her invisibility as she fell.

Rereading the information on Archon Lee sighed before opening her desk drawer and removing a bottle of painkillers. Popping two in her mouth before washing them down with her water bottle she let her free hand drift down to her cracked ribs. The Hulk's grip had done nothing to help with the pain and she now worried if she would be fit enough to go after Archon. She had one week and four days to heal and be ready for him. She didn't trust the information given to her but she was going to use it none the less. And why not? It was the only sure fire lead she had in a long time. Lee might not have known who left it and why. But she wasn't going to waste the gift.

Lee questioned her sanity for the fifth time that day as she stood outside Stark tower looking up at the floor she knew to be home to the Avengers. It'd only been a day since she tricked the Hulk into taking her there and ultimately escaping from them yet there she stood. Almost as if asking to be caught. _Street clothes Lee! You are in street clothes. No chance in hell of them recognizing you._ She reminded herself. "Ms. Almar?" Turning Lee began wondering if she had some kind of magnet on her that attracted Captain America or something. Because there he was with Dr. Banner clear coming back from getting coffee. "Cap-Steve." She corrected herself as he and Banner walked over to her. "Bruce this is the woman I told you about. Ms. Almar this is Dr. Banner." She shook hands with Banner and gave a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you." Banner greeted her. "Same." Banner then turned to Steve. "I better get inside before Tony comes looking for me." He then said bye to her before heading for the doors. "Not the social type?" She asked. Captain shook his head. "I think he was more doing that to spare us from Tony finding us together. You really don't want him to see the two of us talking." Lee tilted her head in confusion. "Something wrong with that?" She asked. Steve sighed. "Not if you don't mind being dragged up to the top floor and having Tony prying into your personal life." _As if I need more Avengers in my life!_ "Point taken." Lee glanced up at the tower. "Rumour has it that something happened on the top floor the other day. Everything alright?" She turned her eyes to Steve and found him staring at the ground. "We almost had Shadowspider." He sighed. "Almost?" He looked up at her and nodded. "She convinced the Hulk to bring her to us. But as she was being cuffed she managed to take one of us hostage before fleeing. No one got hurt though so that's something to be thankful for." She nodded. "If she can get free so easily while in Stark tower how can you hope to catch her?" She asked. At that he smiled at her. "Because she told me she's looking for something." _What?! No I didn't._ "How so?" She asked. "I questioned her on what she was after and she told me it didn't matter because we wouldn't let her have it. She's looking for something. Or maybe even someone. We just have to figure out who or what by looking at the people she's gone after in the past." Lee nodded as she realized what he meant. "You're looking for a pattern to show you the answer. It's a good idea." _But it won't work. I've gone after everything from drug dealers to petty purse-snatchers. Murders to rapist. There's no really pattern. … … Other then the fact that I'm hunting criminals. But that's not much of a pattern! No way they'll work out why I'm doing it._ "I wish you luck with your search then Steve. Good day." Lee then turned and headed down the street. She had ten days to ready herself for Archon and the last thing she needed was to be worrying about her hunts leaving enough of a pattern for the Avengers to work out her plans.


	3. Chapter 3

Lee had managed to stay away from the Avengers for several days, not going out as Shadowspider so much as once during that time. Her ribs felt better allowing her to stop taking painkillers and focus on her planning for Archon. However nothing last forever. When the news of Tristan Oswald, a mad man with as nasty habit of experimenting on people had returned to the city she knew she had no choice but to go after him. Tristan was on the list of names she had gathered on her own but he had slipped away from the city before she had the chance to go after him. She wasn't about to make that same mistake twice.

_Damn it! Trust them to show up here when I'm so close._ Each Avenger (other then the Hulk who was oddly missing from the group) where standing outside of Tristan's lab while Stark disabled the security systems. _If I'm to have any chance at getting Tristan I'll have to slip in through the air ducts._ It wasn't something Lee wanted to do but the need to get to Tristan was too great for her to care. Getting the cover off with out the Avengers noticing was simple enough as was sliding into the duct its self and the path appeared to be straight to the lab.

Lee dodge another shot from Tristan's gun growing more annoyed with the man. "Come now my dear. If you just give up I promise the experiments won't hurt and I'll make you into something truly perfect." He seemed to believe he could convince her to volunteer for his twisted work. "There's only one thing I want from you Tristan." She growled as she shot a line of web at his chest and pulled him toward her, her hand closing around his throat. "And that's some names. You know the ones I want from you." Lee watched with growing anger as Tristan's face spilt into a huge grin. "Oh the things I could do with you. So lovely." Lee was just about to throw him to the ground and leaving him for the Avengers. "Just like you mother was." The shock that hit Lee was like a punch to the gut. "What did you say?" She whispered, not willing to believe this monster knew her mother. "Same face, same hair. But with that dirty mongrel's will. We should've never let them get so close." This was not what Lee was expecting nor wanting to hear. Tristan was suggesting that her mother and father both knew him and those close to him. "Who? Who shouldn't have let them get close!? Tell me!" Lee demanded as she slammed Tristan against the top of a near by desk. "Shadowspider?! How'd she get in here?" Lee turned her head and found herself staring at the Avengers. "Poor little Lee. You really don't remember." Lee returned her eyes to Tristan. "Remember what?" She asked. "They'll be so sad to hear that. Poor little Libena." Lee was about to demand him to explain himself when her body jerk back to avoid Stark's blast. "You won't get away this time Shadowspider." She hissed at Stark before switch on her invisibility.

Lee had flung most of the boxes containing what little information about her life she had been able to gather aside, half the contents of each box scattered across the room as she searched for a file. Finally she found it. Her hospital record from the day of the crash. She had read it many times back when all she wanted was to remember her past. But over the years since then everything she read in that file had been pushed to the very back of her mind and now for the life of her she could not summon it back to the front. Opening the file Lee's hands shook as she read the name on it. Libena Finn Almar. "No. No this can't mean he knew my family. They were following me. He could've got the details from anyone. My parents couldn't have been with them!" Lee threw the file away as tears pricked at her eyes and the long scar on her back began to burn with white hot pain. She fell to her knees and held herself, denying any possibility that Tristan was telling the truth. "It's not true. It can't be true." She cried. But the more she tried to deny it the more some part of her screamed back it was the truth. Forcing herself to her feet Lee grabbed her coat and left her apartment. She needed to get away from it all. She needed to drown herself so she could forget it all. So she went to the bar.

Several shots later Lee was at the point where the drinks and emotions clashed just enough that it left her feeling numb. She barely even noticed Steve taking the seat next to her. "Ms. Almar?" Lee turned to him and noticed the worry on his face. "Hello Steve." Her voice was empty and that only made his worry grow. He quickly stopped her from taking her next shot. "I think you've had enough. Here let me take you home." She quickly threw off the hand he placed on her. "Home is the problem. Home is the reason for this. You would take me back to it just for me to come back here mere moments after you leave me?" She asked him. Steve quickly rethought what to do. "Then come back to the Tower with me. We have more then enough room for you to sleep this off there." Lee was half tempted to accuse him of trying to trap her, but thankfully she wasn't that far gone. "You won't leave me. Will you?" She asked. "No Lee. I can't allow myself to leave you in the state you are in." Lee let out a heavy sigh and slapped a few 20s on the counter before picking up her last shot. Steve went to stop her but she glared at him. "One more isn't going to kill me." She growled before downing it and standing. Or rather trying to stand. Steve had to shoot up fast to steady her. Lee's arms wrapped around his neck and a smile appeared on her lips. "You know, this is kind of nice." Steve was beet red as he stared down into her eyes. There was a part of him ordering him to kiss her, that she wouldn't mind him kissing her in the state she was in. But it was the reminder that she was in a drunken state that kept him from doing that. That and how he was brought up. "Let's get you out of here." Steve picked her up bridle style and carried her outside, silently thanking god for his choice of one of Tony's cars rather then his bike that night. As it would make getting Lee back to the Tower that much more safe and easy.

"Back off Tin Can! Or I'll melt you down into a nickel." Lee snapped at Stark when he started teasing Steve about bringing home a drunk woman. "She doesn't mean it. Come on Lee. Let's get you to bed." Lee smiled up at him. "You bed sounds great!" There were a few snickers as Steve turned bright red. "Here Steve, I'll help her to bed." Pepper offered as she walked over to the two and took Lee's free arm. Pepper struggled a little under Lee's weight but managed to get her to the hall way leading to the bedrooms. "So. Who's the girl?" Stark asked. "Her name is Lee Almar. We've run into each other a few time and tonight seems to have been a bad night for her. I found her drinking in a bar." Steve sighed. "Any idea why?" Bruce asked. "No. All she said was that the problem was at her place. And I have no idea where that is."

Pepper returned 20 minutes after putting Lee to bed. "What took you?" Stark asked her. "Lee felt the need to bathe before bed and then she chose to sleep naked. She" Pepper didn't seem to want to continue. Too bad Stark wanted her to. "She what? Has a tattoo?" He asked her. "No. She has scars along her back. Most of them seem to be small but there is one that takes up a good amount of space on her back." This interested Steve a little. "A large scar?" He asked her. "Yeah. It run up the back of her right hip to the back of her left shoulder." "Are the edges jagged?" Bruce asked. "No, they appear smooth. Like a medical scar." Everyone looked to each other before Stark called out. "Jarvis, what does her files say about this?" Steve was about to tell him off for prying into her personal information when the AI answered. "Ms. Almar's medical file list a car crash being the cause of the smaller scars along the back of her body, however the cause of the large scar is unknown. Her file suggests that the scar is older then the crash related scars however no reason for the scar is listed." "A car crash?" Steve found the question slipping out before he could stop it. "Ms. Almar was 11 years old when her parents car was hit by a large transport truck. There is little information regarding her family. It appears as though most of it was erased." This got everyone's attention. "Someone erased her family information?" Natasha asked. "The crash by it's self isn't out of the ordinary but the fact that someone delete information about a whole family is. Why would anyone want to do that?" Clint asked. "Maybe some spies should look into it." Stark suggested.

Lee groaned as she woke. It was clearly still the middle of the night but her mind was clearer now. Sitting up she grabbed her clothes and slipped them on before making her way out the door and down the hall. She knew where she was but didn't care. She just wanted something to eat. Entering the kitchen the lights flicked on, surprising her and hurting her eyes a little. Blinking away the brightness she glanced around for any signs of the Avengers before walking over to the fridge and checking what was inside. "Pizza's still good." Lee slammed the fridge door close as she spun around. Stark was smirking at her from the archway. "Mr. Stark." She greeted. "Call me Tony. As I said the pizza is still good so help yourself." Lee was tempted to just head back to the room she had been given for the night. But she knew she'd just come right back for food not five minutes later. Reopening the fridge she grabbed a couple slices and settled down at the island. "Steve tells us you have an interest in Shadowspider." Though it wasn't voiced as a question she knew he wanted an answer. "Who doesn't have an interest in the one person who keeps slipping through the Avengers' fingers. Even Loki hasn't be able to evade your group like she does." Tony shrugged. "She's still kind of new. Only been a year since she first showed her face when she killed all those children and we still know nothing about her." Lee wanted to laugh. "From the way Steve tells it your group doesn't really seem to care much for more details on her. After all he seems to be the only one interested in finding out what she wants. Not that she'll get it in the end." Tony nodded. "Alright maybe we do need to have some idea what she's afraid. God knows that Dr. Oswald wasn't able to give us anything useful. Just kept muttering about how some girl was going to make some people sad about being forgotten." Lee forced herself to take a bite of her pizza before speaking. "Did he give any names?" Tony merely shook his head. "None. Not even who the girl was. Though I think he might've been referring to Shadowspider." Lee raised a brow. "She was there when we reached him. Had him pinned to a desk and looked about ready to kill him. Then again given the things he's done to people I can hardly blame her." Lee wiped her mouth and took a long look at Tony. "You think she would've killed him for what he did to people?" She asked. He smirked at her. "Nah. She was there for something else. Don't think she got it though. Which is why I have Jarvis digging through all of Oswald's data." _That data! It could hold a name or two that I could use. But Tony Stark can out hack anyone in the world. How can I get that data for myself._ "You looking for work?" The question threw her. "What?" "You just look like you could use a job. That and I read what there was of your file. Your computer skills are a little weak but I think I can work with that." _Stark's offering me a job? What's the catch?_ "You want me to work for you? Where? Doing what?" Tony crossed the room and took a seat at the island. "Going over some data mostly. Like what we got from Dr. Oswald. There's a lot of it and I think you could help." Lee was sure this was a trick. "And just what would I be making?" It was a struggle not to narrow her eyes at him in suspicion. "Well let's see now." Tony took out his phone and began muttering to himself as he pressed buttons. Lee only managed to catch words like "living expensive" and "transportation" before he turned the phone to her. "Around there. Though I think we can settle on a larger number." Lee's jaw dropped at the numbers on the screen. For several moments she couldn't speak let along breath. Opening and closing her mouth a few times Lee finally got out "W-what time should I start?"

"You what?" Steve asked Tony after hearing about what took place in the kitchen. "Gave your girl a job here at the tower." Tony repeated. "Why?" Tony just shrugged. "And she agreed?" Steve couldn't believe it. "I was surprised too. No, on second though I wasn't." Steve fixed Tony with a look. "You and I both know that you are more then capable of looking through everything we got from Oswald with out anyone's help. What are you up to?" Tony just grinned and headed for the lab. "And Lee isn't my girl!" Steve called. "Whatever you say." Tony called back. Steve let out a heavy sigh. "Just what are you up to Tony? Why let Lee see that kind of stuff?" A thought suddenly popped into his head. One he wasn't sure he'd like to confirm.

"Tony!" Steve caught up with Tony at the elevator, managing to slip in before the doors closed on him. "Are you trying to test Lee?" He asked. Tony raised a brow the question. "What ever gave you that idea?" Steve's eyes narrowed. "You're trying to see if she could handle being around stuff like what's in those files. Why? Why do you care about that?" Tony let out a sigh. "Look oddly enough I do like you enough to call you a friend and mean it. The things we do not everyone can stand being around for. It's clear you like Lee enough to want to make things work but you won't quit being Captain America because you can't stand standing by and doing nothing while the world falls apart. Better to put her through the horrors of what we do now before you get in too deep with this girl. We'll know in a few days if Lee can handle the things she'd see if she was your girl." That was not what Steve thought Tony would say. He had never expected Tony Stark to try to protect him from a broken heart. "So you aren't doing this for your own amusement?" He had to be sure. "Do you really think I'm that low?" The doors of the elevator opened and Tony stepped off, telling Jarvis to take Steve back to the main floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Though Lee was glad to be able to look over Oswald's files she found herself a bit paranoid when ever anyone entered the room she was in. And with the day she planed to face Archon coming up fast she knew she had to work quickly. _Damn it! Nothing in these files so far hints at anyone connected to me or my family. Just what am I missing?_ A hand on her shoulder made her jump. Her reflexes kicked in causing her to twist, grab the owner of the arm by the throat and slam them into the desk she had been working on. To Lee's shock and horror it was Steve. "I-I'm so sorry!" She released his throat and helped him back to his feet. "It's my fault. I should've said something. Are you alright though? You seem jumpy." Lee shook her head to clear it before looking Steve in the eyes, seeing the worry in them. "A little unnerved I guess. This doctor was a sick man." Steve gave her a comforting smile. "You don't have to keep reading the files. No one here would blame you if you walked away." Lee almost wanted to laugh and tell him of the thing she had seen on the streets; sadly that would mean coming clean about being Shadowspider. "I just need to take a break. Watch a cartoon. Go pet some puppies at a pet shop. Just see something good, really good to remind me not everyone is like that doctor." Steve seemed relieved to hear that. "Well if you want I was going to head out after talking to you. I could drop you off some where." He offered. _I really shouldn't. There's still so much to go over and who knows how long Stark will get away with having someone like me going over them? But he seems really worried and he has a habit of not dropping it until he's sure things have gotten better. If I stay and he comes back just as I find something he'd alert the team about my connection and I'll face questioning and maybe even be put through tests that might reveal my abilities._ "Just let me mark where I am and get my jacket." Picking the lesser of two evils Lee placed a sticky note near the file she had been reading and followed Steve to the coat closet.

Steve had noticed as the two drove from the tower that Lee's mind was clearly back with the files. He couldn't just drop her off somewhere. So he asked her to get a bite with him. The meal had taken her mind off the files for a while and he learned a little about her. Like how she couldn't remember her life before the crash that took her parents from her. She had no idea about the erasing of her parents files nor did she seemed to have any idea who could've done it. After eating Steve noticed Lee's mind going right back to the file so he asked if she wanted to see a movie. They saw some romance movie Steve couldn't remember what it was called but it was ok and seemed to take Lee's mind far away from the files. Which brings them now to a bench in the park. "That's Steve. I needed this." Lee sighed as she relaxed. "I can't help but feel that your were thinking about more then just those files. You can tell me anything Lee." Lee bit her tongue to stop the laugh that so wanted to come out. _I can just see how my confessing to being Shadowspider would go over with you. Still, it is nice to hear._ "Everyone's got something that plays on their minds. That one thing they never say out loud that torments them to no end. Even if they do find it in them to share with someone it doesn't help. If anything it just drags that person into the same torment as them." Lee sighed. Steve sat there watching her, wishing she'd just tell him. He was sure if she talked about it she would feel better. "I'm going home tonight." This took Steve by surprise since she'd been staying at the tower since Tony hired her. "Why?" Lee turned him with a bored look on her face. "As nice as the tower is I do long for some time to myself. I'm going to be spending the night in my apartment. It will also allow me time to gather a few things for when I come back tomorrow. Or am I suddenly not allow to go home?" She asked with a raised brow. "I-I didn't mean it like that." Steve waved his hands before him before dropping them and sighing. "Want me to drop you off there?" Lee nodded and stood.

Archon Bennett was a man in his late 30s with blond shoulder length hair and hazel eyes When Lee set her eyes on him he was leaning against the side of his car watching his men unload his drugs from a small boat, check them over, then load them up into the back of a truck. Moving into action Lee carefully began to strike, lowering herself behind each guy and tying him up before dragging him out of site to bite him. No one seemed to notice the dwindling numbers till Lee had taken down 15 of the 25 men. Each one left went on high alert in search of both the missing men and the one taking them down. Archon stepped into his car only to find himself at gun point. "Hello Archon. I don't believe we've met. I'm Shadowspider." Lee webbed his door so he wouldn't be able to get away without going through her. "Shadowspider? So that's what you're calling yourself? That's almost laughable." He was smirking at her. "Heard you paid a visit to the good doctor." Archon didn't seem the lest bit worried by the site of her or the gun she had. "So you do know something about me. I want all the details." Archon let out a chuckle. "You sure you want to know? The truth isn't the happy life crush by big bad men you most likely thought it was Libena Almar." Lee pressed the guy to his temple. "I'm not going to sit her like a good little girl while you toy with me. Tell me or I pull the trigger and splatter your brains all over the inside of this car." She growled, fangs at the ready to tear through his neck. "I wasn't told much about anything your father was doing. Just told to get him subjects to run tests on. Your mother did most of the work when it came to catching good test subjects. Five years your mother caught them and your father worked on them. Then they married. I knew nothing after that till after it was reported they had been killed and you had survived." Lee wanted to call him a liar but held back. "What was my father doing with those people?" She had to know. "Beats me. I just bring them and whatever drugs I was told to get. You want to know the dirty secrets of your father you need to ask Zeno." Lee pressed the gun harder into his temple. "Zeno who?" "I was never given a last name. I don't even think Zeno is his real name." Archon carefully took out a note pad and pen then scribbled down some information. "This is where you can find him." Lee took the paper, her eyes never leaving him. "Don't worry. Even if I warned him you were coming he would still be there. Fucking nut job. Probably invite you himself." Lee leaned into his ear. "Thanks for then info. But I can't let you go." She then shot him in the leg." AH!" Gripping the wound Archon almost missed the pain in his shoulder as Lee bit into it to knock him out. Dropping the gun she quickly exited the car and web swung away before anyone spotted her.

The cops had rounded up Archon and his men shortly after Lee had left. Turning the paper over in her hand as she lay on her bed Lee though over what she had learned. Her mother captured people for her father to experiment on. _Could that really be true? Could mom and dad have been just like them? Twisted? I need proof._ Her phone ringing drew her from her thoughts. "Hello?" She greeted. "Libena, it's been too long." The voice greeted her. "Who are you?" The voice chuckled. "Zeno. I was a close friend of your father's." Lee's grip on the phone nearly cracked it. "What do you want?" Again there was a chuckle. "Oh don't play games my dear. You were planning to come see me. I know you were. So I thought it would be nice if we met for dinner. Say, oh I don't know. How does a week from today sound to you?" Lee took a few deep breaths before answering. "Fine. Where?" There was a tapping before Zeno gave the name of a restaurant. "You want to meet in public?" It didn't make any sense to her. "I thought would could have a peaceful meal. You wouldn't have to worry about getting attack and I can enjoy the presence of a woman more beautiful then your mother. There is so much to tell you Libena. I will see you at 8." The line then went dead. Lee stayed where she was for a few minutes turning over what just happened. Finally she set the phone down then stood to mark the date. "Now I'm having dinner with one of these guys? What the hell is wrong with me?" She growled before falling back into bed.

When Lee entered the lab in the tower the next day she found the Avengers talking about something. "We are still trying to find out what Shadowspider wanted with him but so far Archon's not talking. He only mentioned hoping that someone named Zeno gets it good when she visit him." Natasha said. Lee held her tongue and took her seat, dragging a file to her. "She takes out several of his men then traps him in his car before shooting him in the leg and biting him. What's the connection?" Steve asked. "Archon dealt in drugs and mutant trafficking. As far as I can see there isn't a connection between either him and Shadowspider or What he does and Shadowspider other then the fact that he was a criminal." Bruce sighed. Lee pretended to be focused on the file. She wanted to make sure she didn't miss any important information. "Yeah well I want to know why he started trying to text while with her." Clint's words made her turned her head towards them. _He was texting?_ "What'd he type?" Asked Bruce. Clearly this was new information to the non SHIELD members. "He typed Libena. We're still trying to figure out what that meant as well as who he was texting it too." Natasha sighed. Turning her head back to the files Lee kicked herself for not noticing it. "Libena? Isn't that Lee first name?" Tony asked. She could feel them turn to look at her. She read over a line on the page before her before looking up like she just noticed the stares. "Huh? Something the matter?" She asked. "No it's nothing Lee." Steve assured before everyone turned away from her. Lee turned back to the page but kept her ears on them. "No way she's connected to this. I know she might have some secrets but there's no way she's mixed up in any of this. If that is the name of a person it has to be another Libena." It was touching how Steve was trying to protect her. Pointless but touching. "Let's talk about this some later. After all we shouldn't be talking about it with Lee sitting in the room." Bruce pointed out. So everyone but Tony and Bruce left the lab. "Hey Lee." Lee looked up at Tony. "Want the highlights of what we were talking about." For a moment she thought she had been caught listening, but then she noticed the playful look in his eyes. "Think I'll wait for the book to come out." She watched as he laughed and went off to his station in the lab. _Archon was texting my name to someone? Who and why? Just what was he playing at while talking to me?_

Standing in the kitchen waiting for her tea water to boil Lee leaned back against the island and shut her eyes. "Lee! Come on Lee dad's waiting." A voice called to her. Snapping her eyes open Lee turned around quickly. "Whoa! What's got you jumping?" Clint asked he was walked past her to grab a water bottle. "Nothing. Thought I heard my name." She brushed off the voice with a sigh. "Steve told us about your memory problem." She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. "Natasha and I are doing some digging into your parents. I'll see what we can kick your way." He offered. "Thanks. Would be nice to know a little more about them then what they looked like." She was grateful to know someone else was looking into her past but also feared what they might find and if it would lead back to what she is. "Yeah well don't hold your breath. We do have jobs to do besides help you with your past." He reminded her as he past her. "Whatever." Rolling her eyes she picked up the kettle and poured the water into her cup.

Lee had been just about to call it a night when she spotted a name among Oswald's files. Zeno. Seemed the two had worked together to recreate something referred to only as **Arachne**. There was nothing in any of the files regarding it leaving Lee the only course of action. Asking Zeno about it when she meets him for dinner. "What you got there?" Tony asked as he pulled the paper from her hands. She watched as he read it over before looking at her. "Any idea what Arachne is?" He asked her. "I think it has to do with a myth but I'm not fully sure what it could've meant to Oswald." She shrugged. "Nice find." He took the page with him, undoubtly to show the others. _Zeno worked with my father. Does that mean that Arachne was something they worked on together? Always more questions. Never just answers._ With a sigh Lee went back to looking at the files. Hoping to come across more on Arachne or Zeno.

"So why did you really hire her?" Fury asked Tony as the two were watching Lee working on a screen in another room. "Something about her sent up a red flag. Figured it better to keep her where we could see her. Why? You think it was a bad move?" Tony didn't really care what Fury thought. "She took interest in this information." Fury waved the page Tony had taken from Lee. "And the way she obsesses over those files isn't normal." Tony nodded in agreement. "So what are you going to do about her?" Tony had been pressing the question for sometime now. Ever since Fury first took notice of Lee. He was still trying to help Steve by making sure Lee was the kind of girl that wouldn't leave the guy with a broken heart and if Fury took her away he was sure it would hurt Steve. "For now nothing. She's only shown interest in some of the files as well as listened in on conversations you and the others have had near her. I want to be kept to date about what she does." Tony just rolled his eyes and nodded.

Lee was shaken awake by Steve the following morning. She had fallen asleep at her desk. "What time is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes. "Almost 10. Here." Steve set a plate of sandwiches and a cup of tea on the desk. "Thanks." Picking up the cup Lee glanced at the pages she had been looking over when she began to doze off. Like the others before it there was nothing useful to her and nothing worth reporting to the Avengers. Only the one page that Tony took from her had anything of interest and it was now beyond her reach. "I'm a little worried about you Lee. You're obsessing over these files." Lee set her cup down and sighed. "I think there might be more like Oswald. So I'm searching these pages for any names that might be important. Like Zeno." Steve raised a brow. "Zeno? Who's that?" Looking up at him reviled Steve truly had no idea. "Stark didn't tell you? I found a page that spoke of Oswald working with someone called Zeno. Why wouldn't he share that information with the rest of you?" _Why take the page and not tell his team? What is Stark playing at?_ Steve just turned and left the lab. "How strange. But not my problem." Lee turned back to the files as she started on the sandwiches.

_Another day of nothing. It's almost like that page was planted or something but why and who? I doubt the Avengers could've done it. Could it have been that Zeno guy? Just what does he want? He said he was a friend of my father's but I don't trust him. Guess I'll have to wait till my date with him to get answers. Speaking of not trusting what's Stark's game? He takes a page from me that clearly has some important information on it but doesn't tell anyone else about it. Why sit on it? Does he know something about the page I don't? Or had he forgotten it? No. Stark isn't the type to forget something important if it connects to Shadowspider. So why didn't he tell the others?_ Lee shut off her bathroom light and walked over to the bed before dropping onto it. _That voice. It sounded like the one from my dreams. But why? Why did I hear it then. Who's voice is it. Am I really related to them or am I just that desperate for my memories that I'm imagining things that are real?_ Flopping onto her back Lee sighed heavily. "Just once I'd like straight answers." She then turned onto her side and drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the overly long wait everyone. I got such Writer's block on this one that I swear I could feel it as I looked at it. But thankfully I finally pushed through and was able to bring you this. So once again sorry for the wait and I hope this chapter was worth it for you.**

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There was an argument that morning over Tony losing the paper he had taken from Lee. She had a strong feeling however that Tony was lying. _There's no way he just missed placed that page. He's up to something._ However with nothing to prove that Stark truly is up to something Lee was left with no option but to continue her seemingly pointless task of looking for anything of use in Oswald's files. A task she regretted ever taking up.

Sitting in the restaurant in the only dress she owed Lee sipped water as she waited for Zeno. She was just about to give up when a man in his late 50s slid into the seat across from her. "Sorry to keep you waiting my dear." He chuckled. His hair was poorly dyed brown and seemed to twist rather then curl around his slim face. "Zeno I'm guessing." Looking into his steel grey eyes Lee could feel her stomach clench in disgust. "You truly do have your mother's beauty my dear Libena. Oh, I'm sorry. I understand you prefer to be called Lee these days." He was grinning at her like he hadn't a worry nor reason to fear her. "You said you'd tell me about my family." Zeno waved his had as if brushing away her words. "Come now my dear, such talk can wait. We are in this lovely little restaurant. We should take the time to enjoy ourselves. Waiter, bring us your best wine." The young man he'd called to bowed and walked off to get the requested bottle. "I understand you've been looking over Oswald's files for the Avengers. Must be such fun. Knowing that if they figured you out they would swoop down on you and lock you up before you had the chance to jump out the windows." _What the hell is wrong with this guy? He acts like everything is some child's game to him._ "Tell me about the Arachne." Zeno's grin slipped into a frown for a moment. For a moment she felt she had finally cracked him, but then the grin returned. "So Oswald kept some of the data after all? He always was the type to keep little mementos like that. Arachne. That was a project your father and I worked on at one point in time. We came close, oh so very close to breathing life into it. But then it was over." He stopped talking when the waiter return with the bottle of wine and two glasses. Lee waited till the drink was poured and the waiter left before speaking. "Over how?" Zeno took a slow drink from his glass before fixing her with a lazy look. "We ended the project." Raising a brow Lee knew better then to believe that was it. "You were close to making this Arachne reality and you ended the project? Why?" Zeno shrugged. "Your father insisted. And back then when he insisted on something you listened. Smart boy that one. Could see a failure coming a mile away. So we scrapped the project." Lee's eyes narrowed. "But then why take it back up with Oswald if my father told you to stop?" Zeno's grin widened. "Because I realized he was hiding something from me. Though what that is I have yet to work out. Come now my dear. Don't let such good wine go to waste." Lee picked up her drink and took a small drink. She needed to keep her head clear if she wanted to get answers.

It had been so tempting at the end of the dinner to tie Zeno up and force answers out of him but she couldn't risk it. She had gotten only a little information out of him but nothing solid enough to be helpful. Zeno had confirmed Archon's story about her mother and father yet gave little details as to where they worked or who they worked for. Pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes she let out a loud huff of annoyance before pulling her mask over her face and jumping off the building she'd been standing on. "Useless ass!" She growled as she swung down the street.

After several hours of swinging Lee decided to call it a night. But on her way to the rooftop she'd left her clothes she spotted someone staggering onto the road. "Steve?" He was dress in his normal street clothes and from where she was perched on the street lamp she could see he was bleeding from the scalp. _Someone must've knocked him good to get him to stagger like that._ That was when she spotted the speeding car coming at him. "Damn it Steve move!" She shouted. When he didn't do more then turn the opposite way the car was coming from Lee found herself moving with out thinking.

Steve blinked up at the figure above him as his vision cleared, thanks mostly to the impact of his head to the sidewalk. "Shadowspider?" Just then he saw a car speed past the spot he had been standing on a moment ago. _Shadowspider save me?_ He couldn't wrap his head around it. Why had she saved him when she was suppose to be the bad guy. "Better get that head looked at when you get home Captain." She had made to stand but Steve stopped her. He didn't know what drove him to do it but he pulled her down and kissed her. For a moment when she raised her left hand he was sure she was going to strike him. But instead he found her fingers buried in his hair and she was returning the kiss. _Why does this feel right?_ Steve was not the only one questioning this. Lee was also wondering the same thing as she lay on top of him deepening the kiss.

Lee couldn't focus on the files the next day. Her mind kept drifting off to the kiss she'd shared with Steve last night. Were it not for some gun fire a block away the two would most likely still be laying on that patch of sidewalk lost in each others lips. Steve hadn't appeared to be fairing any better then Lee herself as he had burnt his food twice before giving up and using the microwave. He had told the team about what had happened the other night, how Shadowspider had saved him but none of them seemed to believe it. Bruce had even commented that the blow Steve had taken to the head could've effect his vision enough to make him see Shadowspider when she wasn't there. But Steve refused to believe he hadn't truly seen her. And he was going to find and speak with her to prove it to himself. Lee wasn't sure if letting him meet Shadowspider alone again was a good idea. After all her body was already acting funny around him when she wasn't wearing the mask. She had never feared going near anyone as Shadowspider as the mask made her feel free of all the rules that she had placed for herself. Going near Steve when she wasn't bound by any rules could lead her to ruin. _But if I keep some space between us maybe it won't be so bad. Ugh! What am I thinking!? He's an Avenger and I'm a wanted villain. Until I prove my innocents to them there is no way I can go anywhere near him._ Turning in her seat Lee glanced at Steve as he was having a heated conversation with Tony. "But maybe it wouldn't hurt to just do it once." Turning back to the files Lee tried to make herself look busy while her mind struggled with the problem of Steve and if she should take the risk.

While Jarvis was down so he could be up graded Lee had slipped into the garage and left a note for Steve telling him that Shadowspider wanted to talk. After that it was all a matter of waiting till the right time to leave the tower so she could change and get to the meeting place. All the while she prayed that Steve wouldn't make the mistake of either telling anyone about the meeting before hand or leaving the note where the rest of the team can find it.

He appeared to be alone and was dress in his street wear on the rooftop she had told him to meet her. After a quick check of the area Lee landed on the roof and dropped her invisibility. "Captain." She greeted. "Shadowspider, thank you for asking to meet." He was shifting from one foot to the other. A clear sign he felt nervous about what happened the night before. "I figure it was time to take a chance. You so far are the only Avenger that doesn't just dismiss me as a villain. And well, what happened between us the other night is not something I want to leave untouched." Lee was fighting the urge to stare at her feet. She had to appear as if the kiss hadn't affected her in any way. "So what do you want to talk about first?" That had caught her off guard. She had hoped he would stare the conversation. "Well perhaps we should get last night out of the way before we talk about anything else." It wasn't what she really wanted to talk about but Lee knew they both needed to get it over and done with before anything else could be dealt with. "As I recall you saved my life last night." Lee almost wanted to point out that the car most likely wouldn't have killed him if he had been hit. "Yeah I tackled you out of the path of that speeding car after you stumbled onto the street. How's your head?" Steve blushed a little and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Fine thank you for asking." He then let out a sigh. "I don't know why I suddenly kissed you. I saw that you were getting up and some part of me just reacted and I haven't been able to figure out why I did what I did." He wasn't looking at her; he didn't even seem to be looking at his feet as he kept his head down. "If you're worried I'm mad about the kiss don't be. As I recall I didn't push you away. If anything I got just as into it as you did. So let's just say the kiss was thanks for saving your life. Ok?" Steve gave a small nod looking relieved. "Good. Now as I said before I figured it was time to take a chance and you have expressed a wish to learn the motives behind my actions. That is the reason behind my asking you up here at this late hour." Now she had his full attention. What she didn't have however was a clue about where to start. _Guess I should just tell him the edited story._ "My life is mostly a blank page. I remember waking up one day as a child with no idea who I am and no family to look after me. What I did have though was my abilities." And so began her tale. Steve listened to the whole story, stopping her once in a while to ask a question or clear up something he didn't fully understand.

"So everything you've done is just to learn about your family and why people are after you?" Lee nodded, feeling as though a great deal of weight had just been lifted off of her. "Why didn't you ever come forward and as for help?" Rolling her eyes behind her mask Lee sighed. "After the explosion everyone was blaming me for the deaths. If I had come forward no one would've believed me. They have just locked me up on site or shot me." Steve ran a hand through his hair as he realized she was right. "Ok. Well let's go back to the tower and" "Are you out of your mind? Have you not been paying attention to your team mates whenever they talk about me?" Lee couldn't believe he was suggesting something as stupid as going to the other Avengers with this. "They'll listen if we both explain it." Rolling her eyes again Lee spoke without thinking. "Yeah they listened so well when you told them how I saved you last night." Turning away Lee pinched the bridge of her nose. "How could you know that?" Steve asked after a while. "How could I know what?" Lee snapped. "How could you know they didn't believe me that you saved my life?" She tensed. "Why should they believe I saved your life?" She couldn't bring herself to face him. "No, the way you said that meant either you were there when I told them or someone told you what happened. But none of us would've told you and the only other person there was Lee." Steve trailed off near then end and Lee forced herself to face him as he slowly but surely began to become angry. "Is Lee working for you?" The note of betrayal in his voice felt like a slap in the face for Lee. For she was suddenly beginning to see just how much he cared about her. She had to do something to calm him before things got any worst then they already were. "No she isn't. But when I'm not wearing this mask I sometimes meet her at her fave bar and we talk. Today we bumped into each other while getting lunch and she was talking about how crazy it is that no one in your little group thinks that someone like me could be capable of saving a life much less your's." For a moment he didn't appear to believe it. Just when Lee was going to say fuck it and pull off her mask Steve let out a heavy sigh and nodded. What came out of Lee's mouth next was completely out of the blue. "You really love her, don't you?" Steve looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment and Lee was thankful her mask covered her now blushing cheeks. Slowly Steve began to nod. "Yeah. She might not talk a lot, and she doesn't seem to like opening up to people. But I care a great deal about her. I haven't felt this strong for anyone since the war." That left Lee speechless. She'd never had anyone care about her as much as Steve appeared to and she wasn't sure how to handle this news. Clearing her throat Lee glanced at the tower. "Your friends are most likely wondering where you've gotten to Captain. You should get back there." Lee turned to leave. "Shadowspider wait." Holding her breath she glanced back at him. "I'm going to try to get them to see the truth about you. To show them that you aren't what they think you are." It was a nice gesture, but one doomed to fail. "Thank you Captain." With that Lee activated her invisibility and left.

Lee tossed and turned in bed as Steve's words played over and over in her mind. She had done everything in her power to appear as uninterested in his as she could and yet he had just reviled that he loved her. She had never been in love before. Never had anyone fall in love with her. Chewing on her lower lip Lee struggled with the question of what to do about this. Realizing she wasn't going to get any sleep Lee kicked off the cover and went to see who was awake.

Sitting in the kitchen looking over some papers was Pepper Potts. Lee carefully walked over to the woman and tapped her shoulder. "Hm? Oh Lee. Is everything alright?" Clearly Pepper could see something was eating her. "I" Lee had no idea how to word her problem. Having never sought help before Lee was left at a lost for how to ask for help. Thankfully though Pepper seemed to know what to do. "Sit down and tell me what wrong." Doing just that Lee let out a heavy sigh. "I… just found out that someone is in love with me." A smile broke out over Pepper's face. "That's good to hear Lee." Lee shook her head. "That's the problem. I've never had anyone fall in love with me. I don't know what to do with this information." Pepper raised a brow. "You don't know what to do?" Shaking her head Pepper thought on Lee's strange problem. "Well I guess the first thing you need to do is ask yourself if you love this person back. Do you?" Lee turned her eyes to her hands resting on the island top. _Do I love Steve? How would I even know what love feels like? Can I even love someone?_ "I've never been in love before. What does love feel like?" Pepper was now staring at Lee like she had grown another head. "Are you a robot or something? How can you go through life and not fall in love?" Lee shrugged. Sighing Pepper leaned back in her chair. "Well, I don't think there is a way to explain what love feels like. It's just something that you come to realize you're in." _Not the sort of answer I can use to help me through this._ "Lee. Take some time to ask yourself some questions. 1. How does this person make me feel whenever I'm with them? 2. What might my life be like if they were suddenly no longer in it? 3. What are the three things I would do for this person that I wouldn't do for anyone else? And 4. Can I see a future with them? If you can answer all of those and mean them then you may very well be in love with them." Nodding Lee stood. "Thank you for the advice. I'll take care to think on it." She then turned and headed back to her room.


	6. Chapter 6

Another fight, this time about Steve both going off to meet with Shadowspider with out his shield and believing her story. Thankfully though it seemed that Steve had left out the bit about Lee having spoken with Shadowspider while she was supposedly without her mask. "Why can't you even try to see it as a possibility?" Steve demanded. "Because it isn't! We've all seen what kind of person she is so there is no way in hell you can expect us to believe she's this misunderstood person looking for her past." Clint snapped. "Do we?" Bruce asked, his tone uncertain. "Do we what?" Clint asked back. "Do we really know what kind of person Shadowspider is? I mean think about it. She's only ever been responsible for one attack that killed. Every time since then she's left the people she's attacked alive. If she is the person we say she is, why hasn't she been killing people instead of leaving them for the police or us to arrest?" Lee forced down the small smile that tugged at her lips as she noticed the Avengers turning over Bruce's words. "Shadowspider isn't our enemy. Think about all the times we've fought against her. She could've easily killed Clint that day the Hulk brought her here but she didn't. She could've used her invisibility to kill any of us while we're outside the tower but she hasn't. She wants to get answers but everyone keeps treating her like the bad guy. I've spoken with her. I went alone to meet with her and all that happened was us talking. If she was what we thought she was wouldn't I be dead or captured right now?" No one spoke for a while, making Lee turn away from the files she had just begun to read to see what they were doing. Clint and Natasha wore looks of disbelief, Thor appeared in deep thought, Tony was mumbling to himself, and Bruce seemed to be leaning heavily toward believing Steve. Turning back to the files Lee suddenly took in a sharp breath. A small square of page was sitting on top of the page she had been reading before, and she swore it wasn't there before. But the reason for the sudden intake of air was what was written on the paper. "Time to collect your debt." There was an address and time written below. The style of the writing and the blank ink appeared to be the same as the note that had been left when she had found Archon's file in her home. _Who ever left this managed to do so with out me noticing them. Either I'm slipping or this person has some kind of power that allows for this kind of thing. Either way, I had been go see them. If they can break into both my home and Stark Tower I would rather not risk making them angry with me before I learn who I am dealing with._ Tucking the piece of paper into her pocket Lee set about her long day of trying and failing to study the pages of Oswald's files. Unknown to her Tony had long since noticed that she's stop being able to keep her mind on the files, though he wasn't going to say anything until he worked out just what it was that had caused this sudden lost of focus. After all he didn't want to worry Steve if it wasn't anything to worry about and he didn't want word to get back to Fury until there was something for him to know about.

Figuring the person who'd left the notes knew she was Shadowspider Lee went to the meeting place in costume. Perched on the edge of the building's roof invisible Lee watched for any signs of who she was waiting for. Just as she was about to give up and leave she heard a chuckle from the shadows. "You can make yourself visible. I have no intent to fight you." From the shadows stepped a figure Lee knew only from what little the news had been able to gather. "Loki?" The shock of seeing the god was enough to make her become visible. _Damn it this isn't good! Steve finally trusts Shadowspider enough to try to help me and it looks like some of the other Avengers are getting to the point of giving me a chance to prove myself innocent. To get tangled up with him would spell the end of that and any chance of it happening again. But if anyone could make my life any worst then what it already is it would be him. Guess I have no choice but to hear him out._ Stepping off the edge and onto the roof Lee made sure to keep some space between the two in case anyone spotted them and took a picture or something. "I'm only here to hear you out. My being here in no way is an agreement to aid you in whatever it is you have planned." Loki seemed to smile at her as he walked over to one side of the building and leaned against it. "I noticed things have changed for you since I left that file for you. You've even got the Soldier at your heels. Very well done." Lee's fists balled in anger. "I have done no such thing! Leave Steve out of this!" She snapped. Loki chuckled. "Protective of the Captain I see. Understandable. After all if all else fails he is the most gullible of the lot." _I wonder if my venom would effect him._ "What do you want with me?" The growl didn't escape Loki's notice. "I have some, shall we say gifts for Midgard's heroes. I would like you to deliver them. Nothing more." She knew better then to believe that was it as well that the gifts were harmless. "And just what will these gifts do to them?" She questioned. "Nothing you need to know about. Don't worry. I have no plans to kill them. Yet." It was clear he didn't want to answer any more of her questions. But she had just one more question for him. "And if I refuse to play delivery girl?" That put a dark smirk on his face. "Then everyone will see the Shadowspider they believe you are." He then changed into a perfect copy of her. "And they will even learn who they truly need to hunt." He then pulled of the copy of her mask reviling her face. For several seconds she could speak due to both anger and horror. When she finally got her mouth to work all she found herself able to say was "You bastard!" He just laugh as he changed back. "I shall leave the gifts in your home along with a clear tag on each so you know who to give which to. And if you do this task quickly I shall be kind enough to give you what you have been struggling to find." Lee held her breath, not believing he meant what she thought he meant. "All the answers you have been seeking." He was then gone. Lee felt her legs give out on her as she crumbled to the ground with tears stinging her eyes.

If she didn't do as Loki wanted everyone would see the monster everyone thought Shadowspider was as well as know it was her behind the mask. And if she did as he asked he would give her all the answer she was looking for. But it also meant hurting the Avengers. Now she might not care much for Clint, Tony, Natasha, or Thor. But she kind of liked Bruce and Pepper. Steve? _He would be the most hurt if I betrayed his trust by helping Loki. If he ever learnt what I did it would kill him and I would lose all of his trust._ Lee was sitting in her apartment looking at the bag of Loki's so called gifts. She could feel the danger they posed to the Avengers even though they looked like harmless items no one would ever expect. Things the Avengers would clearly over look in their rooms even though they had clearly not been there before. Shaking her head Lee flopped back onto her bed. "Why do I care so much? It's not like I owe any of them any loyalties." She growled at herself. _But Steve is different. He wants to help you even if he doesn't know you are Shadowspider. And he admitted to being in love with you._ A voice in her head reminded her. Chewing on her bottom lip Lee knew it was right. The other Avengers might've not cared if they hurt Shadowspider while capturing her but Steve had expressed wanting to find out what she was after to learn more about her. He wanted answers about Shadowspider almost as much as Lee wanted answers to her past. "So then. It's either refuse and be framed and reviled. Or hurt the Avengers and get answers." Turning on her side Lee barely felt the tears that now slid freely down her cheeks.

Each Avenger jumped when they heard something slam into the floor of the kitchen that morning. Turning all but Steve could only gape in surprise at the site of Shadowspider standing in the archway looking like she had the longest night anyone had ever had. They almost missed the strange bag at her feet. She gave it a small kick away from them yet at the same time she appeared to be trying to get them to notice it. "Just thought you'd want to know Loki gave me these to sneak into your rooms." Each one tensed as they lowered their gaze to the bag. "You might not have the highest view of me but know that I'm not the type to take to planting traps or whatever these are regardless of the threat hanging over my head." That got Steve to look up at her. "Threat? Loki threatened you if you didn't do what he wanted?" Lee wasn't sure if the shock in his voice should hurt her or be touching. "He told me if I didn't plant these he would make sure you guys and all of New York got the proof they needed that Shadowspider is a monster. He would also revile who I am to everyone. But I doubt he took into account any chance of my going to you guys and reviling his plan." Steve suddenly narrowed his eyes. "But by doing this he might still go through with his threat. We might know the truth but the rest of the city doesn't." "Don't you think I know that!? Don't you think I'm worried he will make good his threat? I know I'm taking the biggest risk of my life by doing this. I will deal with what ever he does to get back at me but I WILL NOT allow anyone to use me as their tool to cripple their enemies! Let him bring the world down on me. I don't care. I don't care for any of you nor the world outside this tower. There is only one thing I want and I shall not allow anything to stand in my way of it. And I shall not trust anyone who offers my past to me on a plate." She then triggered her invisibility and ran for her exit. "Shadowspider wait!" Ignoring Steve's call Lee ran out to Tony's little landing pad and jumped. Free falling for a few minutes helped her to get her body to stop shaking and the tears to disappear back to where they came from. For just a moment the kitchen she had been standing in had disappeared and been replaced with another. A large kitchen with a woman at the stove two teenage girls, three boys sitting at an island and a man leaning against a counter, each faceless. A little girl, about 5 had entered from somewhere behind her and greeted each person before turning to her. Lee had recognized her younger self and had just barely managed to hold onto her composure as she kept talking to the Avengers even though she could not see them through this memory. It had faded just seconds before she stopped talking and the need to get away had been too strong for her to push away. She needed to get home. To get to her apartment. To get out of that costume that now felt as if it was burning her flesh off her body.

She didn't make it home. A chain had flow from one of the allies below her and pulled her down to the ground. Her body landing with a painful smack that rattled her skull and cause her to black out for a few minutes. When her eyes finally opened she found herself looking at a boot. A tall high heeled black boot that clearly belonged to a woman. Following the boot, then the leg Lee looked up at the woman who had pulled her down. She was tall, maybe 6 foot without the heels with dirty blond hair and tanned skin. That was all she could see of the face since the woman had a pair of shades over her eyes. She wore a black corset top of some kind with a leather jacket over and form fitting black pants. On her hands were some biker glovers. That was when Lee took notice of the chains wrapped around the woman's torso. They appeared to move on their own like snakes wrapped around her. "Took a long time to track you down. Sorry bout the drop." A gloved hand appeared before Lee's face, clearly wanting to help her up. Lee didn't take it as she push herself up. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" Lee growled. "What? What are you talking about? Dad told me to meet up with you in this city." Lee blinked in surprise but the woman couldn't see it through the mask. "Took a long time to figure out it was you behind that mask Libena but whatever. Have you made contact with the others since mom and dad died?" Lee gave her head a good shake before backing away from the woman. "Who the hell are you and what do you know about me?" She growled. The woman appeared shock before realization seem to sink in. "Oh my god. You really don't remember anything? I, I'd heard the story but didn't believe it true. Shit Libena! Had I known you really had forgotten everything I would've come sooner." The woman leaned back against the opposite walk and ran a hand through her hair. "It's me." She pulled her shades off reviling the same green eyes as Lee's. "Jessie. I'm your eldest sister." Lee thought back to the what she had seen in the Avengers' kitchen. Then her thoughts turned back to the voice she had heard in the kitchen that one day, calling to her. "Jessie? How many siblings do I have?" Jessie sigh, clearly not wanting to do this but knowing she had to. "You have two sisters, me and Anna. Then there are our brothers. The twins Jack and Max. Then there's you and the baby of the family Alex." Lee checked off each kid she had seen in the memory before nodding slowly. "Alright then." Casting a glance to the mouth of the ally Lee sighed. "We better get out of her before someone sees us. I have an apartment." Jessie nodded and slipped the shade back on before walking over to a motorcycle Lee hadn't noticed. "Lead the way. I can track you now that I know it's you." With a nod Lee web shot away, not looking back to see if she was able to follow.

"You asked me if I had any contact with the others since mom and dad died. Why?" Lee asked as she set two cups of tea on the table Jessie was seated at. Jessie sighed and cracked her neck. "Guess it was to much to hope you would remember why you were alone with mom and dad. The family had to go on the run. Anna took the twins and I took Alex. We went into hiding, only splitting up once the boys were old enough to look after themselves. We all had heard about what happened to you, mom, and dad. Me and Anna kept a watch on the hospital the best we could but no one seem to come after you so we figured it was best to back off. We didn't know for sure then that you had lost your memories. If we had I would've come back for you." Lee nodded in understand and was about to point out that she hadn't answered the question yet but Jessie went on talking. "I asked if you had contacted the others because there was a date set for us to meet back up on. A date and location here in the city. That day was a week ago. I haven't heard anything from the others so I was hoping you had. Guess not since you didn't even know about them till I told you." Jessie sighed and took a long drink of her tea. "Do you know where they went?" Lee asked. Jessie shook her head. "We kept our locations to ourselves in case the others got caught and when the boys left we were to move to a new location for our own protection. I have no idea where Alex went or even where he might've gone. That's why I was hoping you had some form of contact. I'm starting to fear someone got to them before the meeting." Jessie gave a bitter laugh. "That's why I ended up hurting you when I found you. I was so happy to see one of us safe and about that I didn't think about what I was doing. I need your help Libena to find out what happened to the rest of our family." "Lee. My name is Lee." Jessie blinked in confusion before nodding. "Maybe that's why they left you alone." Lee wasn't going say anything about it before but now she felt she had to. "A man named Zeno contacted me not to long ago. I met and spoke with him." Jessie was out of her seat in a instance. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" She yelled, anger and fear clear on her face. Lee almost jumped out of her skin at that. "You let Zeno get close to you? Damn it Libena! He was one of the ones mom and dad was trying to get us away from. You can't trust him!" Lee shot up in sudden anger. "He was the only one I had to turn to for answers. I was alone Jessie in this a cursed city while you were else where with our little brother! I have lived alone for so long with no one to answers. What was I suppose to do when he contacted me offering some answers to questions I have had building for so long?" Jessie found herself only able to blink at that. Lee let out a heavy sigh before storming towards her bedroom door. She stopped before she could slam it shut. "You can camp on the couch if you want to stay." She then closed the door softly.

When Lee stepped out of her room she found Jessie sitting on the windowsill, window open and lit smoke in hand. Her jacket lay on the back of the couch with her boots on the floor. Taking a good look at her sister Lee noted that the chains went from her torso to her arms, circling her wrists and neck. With Jessie sitting so still Lee could clearly see that the chains really were moving with their own life. "Hope you don't mind the smoke." Jessie's voice brought Lee's focus back to her sister. "Doesn't bug me. What's with the chains?" Jessie smiled and raised her free hand, the chain twisting up above her palm. "Dad was made to work on a lot of people. He found many ways to change people. Make them able to do things they couldn't before. Before we had to go on the run dad worked on us. He wanted to make sure his children could protect both themselves and each other. To fight the people that would come after us. This is what he gave me to protect me. This chain is made not just with metal. But also with my own flesh and blood. It is as alive as I am and bends to my will." Jessie then chuckled and smiled at Lee. "And sadly it also reacts to my mood swings." She joked, getting a smile out of Lee. Jessie then sighed and tossed her smoke out the window. "What did Zeon tell you about our family?" Lee moved to arm of the couch and sighed as she lowered herself onto it. "No much. Mostly he told me that mom would capture people for dad to work on. Zeno wouldn't give me details but he also didn't try to learn anything from me. It was more like he just wanted to enjoy being around me. Any ideas why?" It had bugged Lee to no end how Zeno had acted and now that she knew her family had been running from him and some other people Lee was questioning the reason behind the dinner. Jessie leaned against the window frame in thought before sighing. "Did he commented on you and mom?" When Lee nodded Jessie sighed again. "The creep had a thing for mom. I remember mom complaining about the guy getting too close to her. You take after mom in looks." Lee nodded, having heard that from Zeno. "So that's it? I'm just his way to relive his time around mom? No wonder he did give any real answers or pressed me for some." Running a hand through her hair Lee gave up all hope of figuring out Zeno. "So what's with this whole Shadowspider thing? Everyone thinks you're out to kill people." Lee had been waiting for that question. "After I was old enough to be on my own I notice people were following me. I caught one of them after they broke into my place and forced them to tell me what they knew. They directed me to where they had been giving their orders. I didn't want the guys that sent them to know it was me and at the time I was kind of toying with the idea of becoming a hero so I had the suit already made. But just as I got there I sensed something was wrong and jumped to safety to avoid the sudden explosion. Sadly, the kids in the building down the street weren't as lucky. A piece of a wall flew off and crushed a large part of the building they were in. I took off in shock of what had happened. There were people on the streets that had seen me near the building that blew. So they figured I was behind it. Life's been a pain ever since." Jessie had a look of pity and she looked over her sister before she spoke again. "But it can't be as bad as that. I saw you leaving Stark Tower. You're hanging out with the Avengers so how bad can it be?" Lee let out a bitter laugh before telling her sister just what her life had been like and ending it with what she had done and what Loki will most likely do.

"Shit. Ah shit Lee! Why didn't you tell me sooner? We got to do something about this damn god before he messes things up more for you." Jessie was on her feet and throwing her coat on. "What can we do? I have no idea where he is and there's no way anyone is going to believe me." Lee pointed out, but she was changing into her suit. "But the Avengers know the truth. We go to them and figure out a way to keep the public from believing Loki." Lee found that to be a fairly good idea. After all the Avengers were trusted by a large amount of the city. Lee was just about to put on her mask when she remembered something. "Damn it!" Tossing the mask to the floor she turned to her sister. "Even if we keep the city from believing Loki's trick he is still going to show them who's behind my mask. How do we get around that one? After all Tony Stark hired me to look over some files that they would never have let me near if they knew I was Shadowspider." Jessie chewed on one end of her shades before slowly walking over and picking up Lee's mask. "Maybe if both Shadowspider and Lee are in the tower with them?" She suggested as she turned the mask and held it so it blocked her face. Other then hair colour and the fact that Jessie was tanned there wasn't too much difference between their bodies. Hair colour could be taken care of with some dye and the tan could be covered with some make up. "You would pretend to be me?" Lee wasn't sure what to make of that. "Damn Lee. Being on your own really messed you up. I'd do anything for our family. If that means posing as one of us then hell ya I'll do it." Lee slowly found herself smiling.

Lee returned to the tower as herself and went to work on the files, ignoring the fact that Steve was there and staring at her funny. "Ok! Thor's taken the bag of Loki's tricks back to Asgard so we don't have to worry about that blowing up on us." Tony announced as he entered the room. "What about Shadowspider? Any sign of her?" Bruce asked from his station. "None yet. Not even one that could be Loki. Think he will do it? Revile who she really is?" Tony had a note of interest at the end. "I hope not." Everyone, even Lee turned to the new female voice. Lee had to stop herself from laughing. Jessie looked so much like her in her costume that she was almost fooled into thinking Jessie really was Shadowspider. "You came back? I figured you were going to handle Loki on your own." Clint questioned. "That was going to be the plan. Till I realized that I could use you guys as proof of my innocents against any crimes he commits while looking like me." Lee had coached Jessie on what to say and how to act and it was only thanks to years of hiding that allowed her to catch on quickly enough to be passable as Shadowspider. They just had to hope Jessie wouldn't have to do anything that only Lee could do. Jessie's chains thankfully could be pulled into her body through two small holes in her palms, meaning she wouldn't have to explain the metal that hadn't been there before. "Good to know we're useful for something." Tony joked. Jessie just crossed her arms to show she didn't find him funny. Lee gave a faint nod of approval, not seeing the way Steve had glanced between the two when Jessie had entered.

Loki had shown up at the tower to try to revile Lee's identity as Shadowspider to the Avengers but found himself staring at both Lee and Shadowspider along side the Avengers. "You didn't notice the small loophole in your plan Loki. By turning the bag over to them I proved myself trust worthy to them and was able to revile your plan and threat." Jessie mocked. Loki changed back into himself and smirked. "So it would appear. You found away around me." The last bit had been said while Loki's eyes were on Lee. "Pity. We could've been great together. I could've given you everything you wanted. But instead you will learn what happens to those who cross me." He growled as he turned his eyes back to Jessie. Then he was gone. "That's it? We get all dressed up for nothing?" Tony complained. Lee ran a hand through her hair, only to have Steve catch it on it's trip back to her side. "Lee I know he didn't do anything but I really hope next time Loki shows up you'll be as far from him as possible." He then gave her hand a small squeeze. For a moment Lee stumbled for the right thing to do. A quick glance at Jessie showed her what she needed to do. She gave Steve a small smile and let out a sigh. "Don't worry. I don't want to go through the tension I just did again." Steve seemed to accept this as he released her hand. "Think I'll call it a day." Turning Lee stopped only to grab her things before stepping into the elevator. The doors close just as Jessie was saying her goodbyes to the team.

Lee couldn't stop laughing as she and Jessie sat at her dinning table with pizza. "I can't believe we got away with it." Lee said as her laughter broke off into chuckles. "He clearly never thought you would be able to get someone to dress as you for the time needed to prove you are not Shadowspider." Jessie pointed out as she grabbed a third slice. Taking a bite Jessie let out a small hum. "But telling me my dear little sister. However did you get that hotty Captain to fall for you? Share you secret with your big sis." Lee found herself blushing for the first time since she was a child at the question. "I really have no idea Jessie. In truth I never showed any interest in him. Oh wait." Lee trailed off as she thought about the night she had gotten slightly drunk. "What? What is it?" Taking a breath Lee told her sister what took place while she had been drunk and with Steve. How in the car on their way to the tower her hands had drifted over Steve's chest and had to be removed whenever they dipped down to his thighs. Jessie was laughing at the way Steve had reacted but Lee couldn't get the blush to leave her cheeks. "Wow. I can't believe you did that. No wonder he can't keep his eyes off you. Ignoring and pushing away at first, slowly opening up after the second meeting even if only to pump him for information, then playful while drunk. That poor boy must be so confused it's no wonder he's fallen head over heels for you." Lee wanted to reach over and strangle her. But instead she just took another drink of her soda. "Do you return his feelings?" The question was a normal one but the way Jessie had said it suggested that she didn't think Lee had done the normal thing one does when faced with love. Lee shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. This is a first for me and I've never given it any thought before." Jessie huffed an annoyed sigh. "Come on Lee! Your life can't be that messed up that you are clueless to love." But at seeing Lee's face Jessie groaned. "What am I going to do with you?" Lee looked down at her half eaten second slice. "When I was trying to decide what to do about Loki's bag the deciding point seemed to be Steve." Jessie perked up and gave Lee her full attention. "The thought of losing his trust and hurting him was something I didn't want. I can't explain it but I wanted to protect him from Loki. The other Avengers could fend for themselves for all I cared. But Steve, I was willing to risk Shadowspider for him." For a moment there was silence. Lee looked up to find Jessie giving her a soft smile. "Sounds like you love him too. In your own messed up way." Jessie then let out a yawn. "I'm going to bed now. Night Lee." Jessie stood and gave Lee's head a quick kiss before going over to the couch and laying down. Lee sighed and cleared the table. Tossing a blanket and pillow to Jessie Lee went to her room to get some rest. But all the while she couldn't help but think to herself. _So this is love huh? Interesting. And kind of nice._ She drifted off to sleep with a small smile on her lips.


End file.
